View from the seawall at 8:00 AM No, that's not an overexposed photo - it is a shot of the same bay in yesterday's post - yesterday morning in sunlight, this morning in thick, thick fog.
Sadie walks with her nose to the sand, like a bloodhound following a scent, as she tries to satisfy her appetite for shells. I try to steer her clear, but every few minutes I hear the crunch,crunch, crunch of yet another crab shell. In the fog, it is hard to even see the ground a few feet ahead.
The thick eiderdown of fog covers the beach, obliterating the views of yesterday. The little ferry blows its whistle non stop as it glides through the channel between Crofton and Vesuvius terminals. Though the whistle and the line of cars tells me the ferry is just about to dock here, I can not see it at all - let alone Saltspring Island, fifteen minutes across the bay. It is the first time in the six months that I have lived here that I cannot see the islands. It is the first time that I cannot see even the end of the pier.
By later in the day, the fog has lifted a little, though visibility is still poor and the ferry still blows the whistle every few minutes. The smell of pulp from the solitary pulp mill nearby hangs heavy in the air, the one blight on our beautiful piece of the coast. Yesterday the pollution was a paradox – endangering our environment yet creating beauty in the sunrise. Today, the emissions from the stacks cannot even be seen, though its scent will be trapped in the houses long after the breeze has blown the fog away. It is not a pleasant smell - I frequently find myself checking my shoes, wondering what I have stepped in or which dog has had an accident.
Pollution Paradox from yesterday Ah well, when the sun returns I will open the windows and air the place out as best I can. There is far too much beauty here to be deterred by a few days of unpleasant odor every now and then. Even in fog, this town is beautiful to me.
Oliver checking the fog, 3:00 PM
1 comment:
Many of the things you said resonated with me, Jean. How the scene can be an entirely new one from one day to the next, how difficult it can be to catch our dogs before they consume something they shouldn't, how man has touched and left scars on even the most beautiful and pristine places, but most of all, how content you and your critters are in your new home.
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